Jim Miller was an overlooked, good cog in Oakland's bullpen last year following a season with Colorado and Colorado Springs. Miller is now with the Yankees, and this season's model is Mike Ekstrom.

Ekstrom also comes from the Rockies' organization as a minor-league signee. His numbers at Colorado Spring - a hitters' park where the ball flies - were sensational. He was 2-0 with a 2.20 ERA in 21 appearances at home. Overall for Colorado Springs, he was 3-1 with a 2.53 ERA and did not allow a homer in 57 innings. Here are the key stats: He struck out 57 and walked 14.

"It's tough. It's like walking on eggshells a lot," the right-hander said of pitching at Colorado Springs. "They put in a humidor, and it helped a little bit, but you still have to hit your spots, locate very well there. I did a good job of that."

Ekstrom, 29, was one of the A's first calls as soon as players became free agents, and it turned out that it was a perfect match, packed though Oakland's bullpen might be.

"The A's quickly made it clear they wanted me, and they're the team I wanted to play for," Ekstrom said. "It's awesome. They've always been the team I wanted to play for. So it's a done deal.

"I've seen how they do things, and that they give opportunities to guys who perform. As a minor-league free agent, that's all you can hope for. Hopefully, I make a good impression here in camp."

Ekstrom is not your average pro baseball player. His other sport at Sam Barlow High School in Oregon was not one that usually springs to mind: He was a champion slalom skier, and he said that were he not playing baseball, he'd be doing something to do with skiing now.

"It's definitely one of my favorite things," he said. "It's on hold."

The family business also is unusual: The Ekstroms have a tree farm in Gresham, Ore., but Ekstrom said it was clear he was not a natural.

"I'm the only one in the family who hasn't worked on the farm as an adult, but it was my job through high school and college, driving tractors and trucks. The worst part was spreading organic fertilizer, grinding shovels - I still have scars from that.

"I wasn't the best at it. They're probably happy I'm playing baseball and that I leave."

Briefly: Infield coach Mike Gallegosaid last week that the one defensive issue for Japanese shortstop Hiro Nakajimais that he plays back on balls, being used to artificial turf. On Monday, manager Bob Melvinsaid Nakajima looks as if he has been playing on grass all his life and as if he is not afraid of bad hops. ... Melvin expects that Jemile Weeks will emerge well from his sophomore slump; he must cut back on hitting flyballs.